Cyndi wrote:
>Wow your stevia handled Oregon weather? I brought mine inside for the
>winter. It doesn't like it indoors though and keeps dying back but always
>with a few new green sprouts. How cold did it survive? Do you know your
>minimum temp this year?
First, for anyone new to this topic, the leaves of stevia are a sugar
replacement.
Yeah, this was a big surprise for me. I kept the plant in
our sun room which has wildly changing temperatures. It
seldom goes far below freezing but i've seen the thermometer
at 30 degrees. The stevia plant died back in early winter.
My guess is the roots never froze and just sat their waiting.
Also, i don't think this would work if the plant was kept
outside. Frosts and other things would get the spring
growth.
>Also have you had any luck in propagation? I can't manage to get cuttings
>to do anything. I was thinking of trying to layer it with a second pot.
Yes, we've managed to propagate it by using mini greenhouses
and starting for a short while in water. The mini
greenhouses are just recycled plastic jugs or anything
which keeps the humidity in and lets light through. One book
recommends sterilizing the soil or water with bleach but we
didn't do that. Also, stevia likes periods of almost dry soil.
A strange plant in many ways.
Our success ratio was about one in five.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
